HopeLives365

Mark Finley: What portion of the book of Daniel would be shut up or sealed till the time of the end? The prophetic portion. Down through the ages, men and women have always understood Daniel in the lions' den, but this prophetic portion of Daniel would be shut up or sealed till the time of the end.

Guest (Female): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: Revelation Unlocks the Future, part two. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Let your eyes drop down to verse nine, Daniel 12. He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till..." what time? "The time of the end." Verse 13: "But go your way till the end, for you shall rest and arise to your inheritance..." when? "In the end of your days."

So the book of Daniel, the prophetic portion, would be shut up or sealed till the time of the end. So the book that was closed would be opened. So get this picture. Here's an angel that descends from the very presence of God that brings an eternal message to all mankind to guide God's people in a time when God's going to reveal His mercy and justice in the judgment.

This final last-day message would understand the prophetic teaching of the book of Daniel and proclaim it to the world. Now verse four, verse three. He cries with a loud voice as when a lion roars. And when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. But when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal the things which the seven thunders uttered and don't write them."

A lot of people want to know what God never revealed. And they are very speculative when it comes to last-day events. There's no field that gives more speculation than last-day events. Somebody will say, "You know, there were these seven popes, and at the end of these seven popes, this is supposed to happen." Or they'll be talking about some 1335 and some prophetic date, or they'll take 2520 from Daniel chapter four, and they'll have all this speculation. I give God credit for making most plain what's most important, don't you?

And some people always want to know what the seven thunders uttered. If God felt that was important, He would have revealed it, right? So is God playing tricks on us? Is God wanting to hide truth from us? Does God just want to reveal truth to this person over there or that person over there and say, "I've discovered new truth, and only if everybody understood it just like me, Jesus would come."

Jesus would come. God has made truth plain in His word. And if it's not very plain, if it's obscure and foggy and if only one or two people know it, that must not be the revelation of God. I give God credit for making most plain what's most important because He wants to save the largest number of people.

So we go, verse five, verse six. "And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his hand to heaven." Now notice the angel has one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. In Revelation 17:15, it says, "The sea which you saw are nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples." Land is always an unpopulated area in the book of Revelation. So this is a message, one foot in the sea, one foot on the land, a universal message to go to all mankind.

Notice what it says. He swears by Him. Now when an angel lifts his hand to heaven and he swears by solemn oath, I want to pay attention, don't you? Notice it says the angel lifts his hand to heaven and he swears by solemn oath. Verse six: "He swears by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, the sea and the things that are therein, that there should be delay or time no longer."

Now this is an absolutely key text. If you understand this Bible passage, you will be free from a thousand winds of false doctrine that are currently blowing within the Adventist Church. Now let me make this plain. What does the angel do? He lifts his hand to what? To heaven. And what does he do? He swears in solemn oath.

When an angel swears in solemn oath, are you going to believe it? You're not sure. When an angel swears in solemn oath, come on, are you going to believe it? Amen. Now what does he swear in solemn oath? Who has a King James Version of the Bible? The King James is a little better than the New King James here. What does the angel swear in solemn oath? That there should be what? Time no longer.

Now if an angel swears in solemn oath, based on the book of Daniel that's been opened, that there would be time no longer, do you believe it? What is the longest time prophecy in the book of Daniel? 2,300 days. When did that run out? 1844. So what is the angel saying? After 1844, prophetic time would run out.

In other words, after 1844, there would never be a message again based on prophetic time. Our position has been one of waiting and watching. What's our position, everybody? Waiting and doing what else? Watching. With no time proclamation to intervene between the close of prophetic periods in 1844 and our Lord's coming. Did you get that?

So anybody who tells you the National Sunday Law is going to come on this certain date is a violation of what the angel says when he lifts his hand to swear to heaven because he says there's no prophetic time after 1844. And we're going to explain that. So if God is not waiting for events to unfold, what is God waiting for and why hasn't Jesus come?

If the major issue is not 58 more earthquakes and five more popes, and if the major issue is not a calendar event, what then is God waiting for? The next verse tells us. Notice verse six says that the angel swears by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, and the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, there should be time or delay no longer.

But, so prophetic time runs out in 1844. "But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as He declared to His servants the prophets." So what is God waiting for? The mystery of God to be finished. What is the mystery of God? Back to Colossians chapter one. What is the longing of God's heart? It is the mystery of God to be finished.

Colossians chapter one. And we're going to look there at Colossians one, and we're going to start with verse 26. "The mystery which has been hidden from ages." Colossians 1:26. There's a mystery that's been hidden from ages, and God is waiting for that mystery to be finished. "And from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints."

Verses 27 and 28 of Colossians one: "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of His mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Jesus." So notice the two aspects of this mystery. What is the mystery of Christ hidden down through the ages? It's Christ in you, the hope of glory.

What is Jesus waiting for? He's waiting for a generation that are so committed to Christ that Christ lives in their hearts, Christ dwells in their life, and His glory to a darkened world is revealed through them. Jesus is not waiting for 58 more earthquakes. He's not waiting for more the economy to crash more. Those things will happen, and I'm going to study about those in the class. He's not waiting for the mark of the beast, although that will happen, and we're going to study about that.

But there are certain events within the church that lead to these events in the world. The angels are holding back the winds of strife. How long will they hold? Until the servants of God are sealed in their forehead. What is the sealing? It is a settling into the truth of Jesus so that you cannot be moved. So what God is waiting for is a group of people that are serious about going home.

What He's waiting for is a group of people who reveal the loving character of Jesus before a waiting world and a watching universe. He's waiting for the mystery of God. What is the mystery of God? The mystery of God is the reality that in a sinful, decrepit world, His people are so in love with Him that they reveal His loving, gracious character before a waiting world and a watching universe.

And they're so passionate about going home that they share His love and grace to that world. That's what Paul says here about the mystery of God. Notice verse 28: "Him, this Christ, we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Jesus." So what is Jesus waiting for? Two things. First, a group of people that reveal His love and grace. Second, a group of people that proclaim His love and grace. He's waiting for the gospel to go to the ends of the earth.

Guest (Female): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Now Revelation chapter 10 describes that. And then at the end of Revelation 10, it tells about the rise of the advent movement. Revelation 10, verse 8 to 11. "Then the voice I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, 'Go take the little book.' What's the little book, everybody? What is that? The book of Daniel.

"Go take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth." And I went to the angel and said, "Give me the little book." And he said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in your mouth." And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and I ate it. And it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became what? Bitter.

I want you to come back with me to 1844. Adventists, they were Baptists and Methodists and Episcopalians and Congregationalists and many who were from no denomination. Great spiritual revival swept through the world. Down in South America, there was a Catholic priest by the name of Manuel Lacunza. He wrote under the pen name of Rabbi Ben-Ezra.

He began to study the prophecies of Daniel, and as he did, he wrote about the coming of Jesus in the early 1800s. He believed Jesus would come in or around 1844. There was Edward Irving over in England, 300 preachers in England, and they were preaching powerfully about the coming of Jesus, and they believed Jesus would come around 1844.

There was Johann Bengel in Germany. He believed Christ would come. There was Joseph Wolff, the missionary to the Middle East. He was preaching the coming of Jesus. He actually came to America and preached before the American Congress. There was William Miller here in the United States. And there was this advent awakening around the world. They believed Christ was going to come.

First 1843, then in 1844. Their hearts beat with this desire for Jesus to come. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people believed that. They read the book of Daniel. The little book of Daniel was open. It was sweet in their mouth. But as Jesus didn't come, it was bitter in their belly.

Let me take you back, though, to another aspect of Daniel's prophecy. Let me take you back to another disappointment. The year is 31 AD. The disciples believe that Christ is going to set up His eternal everlasting kingdom. They believe that Jesus is going to come and that Christ is going to give them victory over the Romans. They believe that Jesus is going to set a Messianic kingdom.

And as Christ goes to the cross and they see the nails through His hands, and they see the crown of thorns upon His head, and as they see the broken, bruised, bloody body of Christ taken off the cross, the disciples say, "We think He was the one that would redeem Israel." Were the prophecies in the Bible that Christ would be crucified? Were they there? Yes. Did the disciples understand them? No.

They misunderstood them. They didn't see Christ coming as a suffering servant. They saw Him coming as a conquering king. So the disciples were bitterly disappointed. And there the next day after the crucifixion, they gathered in the upper room and that was the darkest Sabbath they could ever experience, right? They were disappointed.

But then Christ was resurrected from the dead, spent 40 days with the disciples, and they looked to the sanctuary. And from that sanctuary, Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit and 3,000 were baptized on the day of Pentecost. The New Testament church was raised up based on a misunderstanding of prophecy. It was based on the disciples' lack of comprehension.

But out of that disappointment, God raised up the New Testament church to move the world. Fast forward to 1844. Exactly parallel. Again, God's faithful believers misunderstand prophecy. Again, God's faithful believers are disappointed. Again, they look to the sanctuary. And again, God raised up an end-time movement based on exactly Revelation chapter 10. Look first at verse 11 and Revelation 10:11 and 11, verse 1.

And he said to me, "You must prophesy again." Notice, out of the disappointment, you would prophesy again. Did the New Testament church prophesy again? Would God have again a latter-day people that would prophesy again about many or too many peoples, nations, and tongues? Chapter 11, verse one.

Now you know in the text, in the original text, there are no chapter divisions. They didn't come till the 14th century. Chapter 11, verse one: "Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, giving, saying, 'Rise and measure the temple of God.'" In other words, after your disappointment, look up to the temple of God. Find your solution. Find your answer in the sanctuary.

Just as the disciples looked to the sanctuary, saw Christ inaugurated in the sanctuary, and the early rain was poured out, so God will have a last-day people who have been raised up based on disappointment. So rather than the disappointment of 1844 being a black mark on Adventist history, it is a glorious sign of a movement raised up by God exactly parallel to the New Testament movement.

With that understanding, we now go to the great controversy. God would raise up an end-time movement. That movement would look to the sanctuary. That end-time movement would discover in the sanctuary the very law of God. Notice Revelation 11, and we're looking there at Revelation 11, verse one.

"Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, 'Rise and measure the temple of God.'" What do you see when you look up into the temple of God? Revelation chapter 11, verse 19. What do you see when you look up? Verse one says look into the temple. Verse 19 shows you what you see.

"Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail." When you open the temple of God, what do you see in the temple of God, everybody? What do you see there? The Ark of the Covenant. What three things are in the Ark of the Covenant? Aaron's rod that budded, the pot of manna, and what else? Ten Commandments.

So when you look at Aaron's rod that budded, Aaron's rod is a symbol of divine authority. So in an age where many people say, "I'm a law unto the myself, I don't want to respect any authority," God says He has divine authority in His church. The pot of manna. What do you know about manna? What did many of the Israelites want, and they didn't want manna? They wanted the flesh pots of Egypt.

What do you know about manna? Did manna have a mother? Did manna have bones and feathers? Where did manna come from? Heaven. Manna represents heaven's diet or the health reform message. And what else was in there? The law of God. And what is in the heart of God's law? The Sabbath commandment.

So based on the disappointment of 1844, Revelation chapter what? Ten. God would raise up an end-time what? Movement or people that would prophesy again. He would direct their attention to where? The heavenly sanctuary. And when they looked in the heavenly sanctuary, what would they see? The law of God and the Sabbath that would be restored to Christianity to climax the Reformation.

What else would they see? They would see the pot of manna. They would understand that their bodies were God's temple and that men and women were physically, mentally, spiritually unified as whole people, and they would become, they would see health not merely to give them more years of life in this world, but they would see health as part of an end-time message to prepare them for the coming of Jesus.

They also would look there and see Aaron's rod, which would be a symbol of divine authority, that God would have a people on earth that would have the authority of Christ based on the word of God to go out and proclaim His message. Now when you come to Revelation chapter 12 and 14. In Revelation chapter 12, this controversy comes to a focal point over the law of God.

And we look at Revelation chapter 12, verse 17. "The dragon..." Who's the dragon? Satan. "...was what? Enraged." What's another word for enraged or angry? "...with what? The woman." Who's the woman? The church. "And what does she do? Makes war with the rest or the remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus."

From here on out in the book of Revelation, we have a description of Satan's attack upon the church. We have a description of the final conflict, and that's what we're going to spend time studying. So Revelation 10, God raises up an end-time movement. He raises them up out of disappointment. Revelation 11, they look to the sanctuary to find Jesus in the sanctuary and to find a message for end time.

In Revelation chapter 12, Satan hates them. Now in Revelation 12, you have four basic snapshot pictures. Let me summarize them before we go to Revelation 14. In Revelation 4, it's like you look at four video clips, and they come real quick. The first video clip you look at is Satan making war with Christ in heaven, and Satan is cast out. He loses.

The second video clip you look at is a video clip of Satan trying to destroy Jesus when He's born. Again, Satan loses, Jesus wins. The third video clip you look at is a long period known as 1,260 years where Satan tries to attack God's people and destroy them. And again, Jesus wins, Satan loses. The fourth video clip is the one that we're going to be concentrating on in our class from here on out.

In the fourth video clip, the devil makes war. Whom does he make war upon? The woman or the church. Why? Because this church, if faithful to Christ, reveals in their very life and teachings obedience to the law of God. And Satan hates the law of God. So the devil is angry with the church.

Revelation 14:6: "And I saw another angel flying in the middle of heaven." Notice the angel does not float, the angel does what? Flies. So here's something urgent. "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel, the good news that through Christ our sins can be pardoned. The good news that through Jesus that grace gives us the power to be overcomers."

Guest (Female): We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: Now let me summarize in the next 30 seconds and then give you a break. The book of Revelation is a book about whom, everybody? Jesus. And it's a book especially in the first 11 chapters that show you the history of the Christian church and the persecution that it has gone through down the ages.

It shows you in the first 11 chapters that God has always been faithful. He's never left His people alone. That's the introduction to this class. Now let's pray. Father, we thank You for the clear light on the road ahead. We thank You that Jesus is a winner and that Satan is a loser. Father, as we study in this course on last-day events, fill our hearts and minds with a love for Jesus and His truth. In Christ's name, amen.